Hiskill
<< Back to Conlangs :: << Back to North Nekturian Characteristics Hiskill is a somewhat conservative language, although its phonology presents lots of innovations. Phonology Consonants *Proto-Ehang aspirated consonants (fh, x''', '''vh and gh) all merged into a simple aspiration h'. *Both 'þ and sh merged with s''', while '''dz and dzh turned to ts and tsh, respectively. *'ð' merged with z'''. Vowels Vowels are: Proto-Ehang '''a turned to open e''', while '''aw changed to open o'''. Open '''e remained, while closed ey turned to iy. Open o''' turned to '''a. Morphology Nouns There are three gender of nouns: masculine, feminine and neuter. Nouns are declined according to three numbers: singular, dual and plural, and to six cases, viz.: #Nominative (subject) #Accusative (direct object) #Dative (indirect object) #Ablative #Genitive (possessive) #Locative Masculine Nouns | |} Feminine Nouns | |} Neuter Nouns | |} Adjectives Adjectives are not declined at all, but all adjectives receive a suffix '-i'. E.g., mupi "new", "young", kelmti "great". Comparative Form Superiority The suffix '-illi-' is added to the stem of the adjective, resulting in a new adjective. Ex.: *'kelmti' "large", kelmtilli "larger" *'mupi' "new", mupilli "newer" *'punni' "good", punnilli "better" Equality Inferiority Superlative The suffix '-izni-' is added to the stem of the adjective, resulting in a new adjective. Ex.: *'kelmti' "large", kelmtizni "the largest" *'mupi' "new", mupizni "the newest" *'punni' "good", punnizni "the best" Pronouns Pronouns follow the same declension system used for nouns and adjectives, with little differences in some forms. Personal Although there are dual forms for all pronouns, thiy were not always used, plural forms being preferred. Dual forms were used mostly when the speaker wanted to emphasize the fact that the elements were exactly two. 1st and 2nd person pronouns have special forms, while the 3d person pronoun follows the regular noun endings. 1st and 2nd Person Pronuns | |} Possessive Possessive pronouns are declined like any other adjective. Demonstrative *'izzi' "this" (very near) *'stisti' "this" (not so near) *'giyi' "that" (far) Interrogative *'hiy' "what" *'hon' "who" *'gar' "which" *'gew' "how" *'tiyar' "where" *'gahtar' "when" Relative *'hiy' "that" *'hon' "who" Indefinite *'krann' "some", "any" *'mayan' "no", "none" *'dutt' "all", "every" *'hett' "each", "every" Numbers Cardinal Numbers *0 sol *1 hann *2 tayits *3 delzes *4 gadel *5 zemgu *6 tsihiy *7 zodi *8 uhiy *9 muhi *10 tozes *11 hantoz *12 tuttoz *13 deltoz *14 galtoz *15 zentoz *16 tsiytoz *17 zoditoz *18 uhiytoz *19 muhitoz *20 hemmi *21 hemmi hann *30 dlemme *40 gohemme *50 ziymemme *60 tsihiyemme *70 zawdemme *80 uydemme *90 muhemme *100 zon Ordinal Numbers Ordinal numbers are regular adjectives. *1 belnili *2 ziykemdi *3 delzîli *4 goheldi *5 zemgemdi *6 tsiyzi *7 zawdiyni *8 uhdepi *9 muhimmi *10 tozziyni Conjunctions Coordinating *'ye' "for" *'go' "and" *'mehe' "nor" *'zo', buwn "but" *'ha' "or" *'ihted' "yet" *'ziyn' "so" Correlative *'henpi … go … ' "both … and … " *'ha … ha … ' "either … or … " *'mehe … mehe … ' "neither … nor … " *'wuw … zo … ' "not … but … " *'meze … denpen … ' "not only … but also … " Subordinating *'tibiy' "after" *'gemot' "although" *'ziy' "if" *'zod' "unless" *'hiyu' "so that" *'belem' "therefore" *'hebbel' "in spite of", "despite" *'ye' "because" Verbs Concepts *'Voices': Active and Passive *'Moods': Indicative, Conditional *'Tenses': Present, Perfective, Aorist, Imperfective, Pluperfect, Future, Future Perfect *'Persons': 1st, 2nd and 3rd *'Numbers': Singular, Dual and Plural Thematic vowels are lost, and phonological alterations in endings appear as a compensation. Sample Conjugation: hiytol "see" Here is the full conjugation of the verb hiyt-ol "see". For other verbs, just change the root (in this case, hiyt-''') and the thematic vowel (-''' in this case). Active Voice Indicative =Present = =Perfective = =Aorist = =Imperfective = =Pluperfect = =Future = =Future Perfect = Conditional =Present = =Perfective = =Aorist = =Imperfective = =Pluperfect = =Future = =Future Perfect = Participle =Present = *'hiyt-emdi' =Perfective = *'hiyt-ti' =Aorist = *'hiyt-si' =Imperfective = *'hiyt-ti' =Pluperfect = *'hiyt-lenni' =Future = *'hiyt-dali' =Future Perfect = *'hiyt-letti' Imperative Passive Voice Indicative =Present = =Perfective = =Aorist = =Imperfective = =Pluperfect = =Future = =Future Perfect = Conditional =Present = =Perfective = =Aorist = =Imperfective = =Pluperfect = =Future = =Future Perfect = Participle =Present = *'hiyt-yewi' =Perfective = *'hiyt-tiyi' =Aorist = *'hiyt-siyi' =Imperfective = *'hiyt-tiyi' =Pluperfect = *'hiyt-leyi' =Future = *'hiyt-dayi' =Future Perfect = *'hiyt-liyi' Imperative Vocabulary *Swadesh List: Here we give the Swadesh List for Hiskill. Sample *"Dutti uwnenuz mezze riyhli, tiykmiytetum go tiylihiydunz. Yeruz ehe lesewew go gemziyhemziyhew, go tihe eshol hann uhadluk ispiyliydum helnemtetik." **''("All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Thiy are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.")''